# Cheap hygrometers, why?



## CraigJS (Dec 23, 2009)

I see alot of postings on here of cigar people posting about going to Wmart or where ever and buying 6-10 dollar hygrometers that seem to be a crap shoot as to thier accuracy. Some 10-15% off when tested. These same people would think nothing of trusting thier sticks sometimes a few or boxes full (perhaps $-$$$$) to a hygro that can't be trusted or calibrated as needed.
Why not get a good one. They don't have to be that expensive to be both accurate or adjustable..
I got a Radio Shack electronic one for about 25-30 dollars years ago, and when salt tested recently was only 2% off and in a very short while was adjusted spot on. It's a temp/rh type. For the price or 3 or 4 nice sticks you can be assured your investment and loves are protected..
I understand not everyone perhaps has the extra money, but I want to protect what I've already spent and will spend in the future.

If you so feel the need go ahead and :whip: me.
Be safe, CraigJS


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## daviddunn (Sep 26, 2006)

What's the difference if it's 2% off, or 10% off? Just do a salt test, and determine what your hygro reads relative to the actual humidity.

I know what you're saying, and I agree that there are places to save money, but I'm not 100% convinced that the digital hygros selling for $25 are better than the $5 ones, they may just be marked up. I'm willing to bet that most digital hygros are probably made in the same 1-3 factories in China.


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## CraigJS (Dec 23, 2009)

If they are off by that much to begin with, what makes me think that they will stay off by that much?
I don't want to have to retest every month or two to be sure of my boxes rh or temp. (a whole nother question).


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## blueeyedbum (Nov 9, 2008)

I have six. one $25 and five Walmart. 

The accuracy range of my Walmarts is within a few %, but the readings always drop when the RH does. 

The accuracy is not important for me because I use Heartfelt beads and trust them. The beads visually tell me when they need to be recharged, but a drop in the hygro reading is a second line of defense for when I'm not paying close enough attention.


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

blueeyedbum said:


> I have six. one $25 and five Walmart.
> 
> The accuracy range of my Walmarts is within a few %, but the readings always drop when the RH does.
> 
> The accuracy is not important for me because I use Heartfelt beads and trust them. The beads visually tell me when they need to be recharged, but a drop in the hygro reading is a second line of defense for when I'm not paying close enough attention.


Yahtzee! I keep beads in mine as well and I like to use a hygrometer in mine because I am anal retentive. I have 3 Walmart Accurites that are pretty much dead on. The other two are off by 10 but it never varies so I'm ok with that. I get the overall logic but for $37 I bought 5 that work for me and that's probably less than I'd pay for one that is guaranteed. If they didn't work I'd take em back and look for those that work. Lucky for me, I'm already set.:eyebrows:


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

I have purchased four of the Wally Accurite hygrometers. One was DOA if you can call off by more than 25% DOA. I returned it no problem. The other three are and were spot on. So they work for me.


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## Herf N Turf (Dec 31, 2008)

All hygrometers are created equal... until you purchase a "Ceritfied" model, which is gonna cost you more like a humidor, than a single stick. Up to that point, they are all potentially off by varying degrees, so there's no point to paying anything more than the cheapest you happen to find. The only reason I can think of to spend a little more is for the ability to actually calibrate it.


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## rajuabju (Sep 14, 2008)

Regardless of whether you buy a $2 or $10 or $50 hygro, you should retest it at LEAST once a year. Why take the risk of damaging your sticks?

I always keep 3 or 4 hygro's in my humidor, and I periodically test them at random times. Very easy to do, and the consequences of not doing so is too much of a risk.


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## austintxeric (Dec 15, 2009)

CraigJS said:


> If they are off by that much to begin with, what makes me think that they will stay off by that much?
> I don't want to have to retest every month or two to be sure of my boxes rh or temp. (a whole nother question).


I had previously posted about my springfield walmart hygrometers, and this is the real question I had. I don't mind marking them as off by 15% but I just wonder if by them being 'off' by so much if there is a greater chance that they would fluctuate every month or two, compared to say a Xikar branded one?


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## Habanolover (Feb 22, 2006)

Buy some Heartfelt beads and forget about the hygrometers. :2


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

austintxeric said:


> I had previously posted about my springfield walmart hygrometers, and this is the real question I had. I don't mind marking them as off by 15% but I just wonder if by them being 'off' by so much if there is a greater chance that they would fluctuate every month or two, compared to say a Xikar branded one?


I did this with the Accurite when I first got one that wasn't dead nutts on. It was off by 10 degrees so I just put it in my memory. After 2 or 3 months I did another salt test,,,still 10 off. I keep beads in my humis so I don't get all anxious but my anal rententive nature and OCD won't let me just put beads in there. Check, double check. Maybe even triple check. One more check.:ballchain:


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## PJD (Aug 15, 2009)

What I would tend to worry about is not that brand-X is off by 10 points but rather that if it's that far off at a known RH level of 75% (in the calibrated bag or with salt), will it be _equally_ off if your actual RH changes by 8 points. In other words, are its inaccuracies equal and llinear or wildly changeable?

Who knows? Some poorly-built POS meter may be dead-on-balls accurate at 75% but be off by 18 points at 60% and under-read by 12 points at 80%, etc. To me, if a model is made for cigar storage specifically it should be as close to perfect accuracy as a cheap meter can be within the range we need it. In other words, if it's within 1 point at 75% but subject to a 10% mis-reading at 40% RH I wouldn't worry about it. So long as it's good between 60 and 80%, that's really all I care. Plus, in my primary humidor, I have two that I play off each other.


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## Perfecto Dave (Nov 24, 2009)

I've done a little searching and I think I'll try one of the adjustable ones and see how it does. If my memory serves me....I think I found one for around $20.......somewhere in my 10,000 bookmarks!


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## PJD (Aug 15, 2009)

Perfecto Dave said:


> I've done a little searching and I think I'll try one of the adjustable ones and see how it does. If my memory serves me....I think I found one for around $20.......somewhere in my 10,000 bookmarks!


The two I have (and trust) are the Caliber III (which is NOT adjustable but appears to be very accurate within the range we puffers need) and a small round Xikar model that is settable and tracks with the Caliber III quite nicely.


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## CraigJS (Dec 23, 2009)

Herf N Turf, that right side digital temp/hygro looks exactly like the Radio Shack one that I was refurring to in my OP. I only paid in the mid twentys for mine back then, now I see they want around 63-65 for the one you show. Quess nothing is the price it "used to be". I wonder if they made the RS version I have?
CraigJS


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## veeref (Sep 7, 2009)

Humi-Care Digital Hygrometer - Cigars International

I have 2 of these, and they were accurate to within +/- 1% right out of the box with a salt test. I really like the fact that you can adjust the RH with them easily, but I didn't have to since mine were accurate. I recommend them. Sometimes you can get them on the devil site for less.

Also, it might be the same as the Xikar hygrometer, just in a different casing and only displays in degrees F.

Regards,
Randy


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## JeffNYC (Oct 9, 2009)

To the original poster, maybe some bought this unit thinking that it works as a hygrometer should work, prior to reading of these problems.


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## jsnake (Oct 6, 2009)

I bought one at WalMart and the salt test revealed it was off by -10. Now just a 2 months later it is -18. I am going to return it and find something that works.


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## JeffNYC (Oct 9, 2009)

Company should be ashamed of itself. At least it's only $6.


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## austintxeric (Dec 15, 2009)

Well, I broke down and bought a Xikar hygrometer yesterday that can be calibrated...just for my peace of mind. So far a little over 24 hours in the boveda bag it is sitting at 70 degrees and 72 percent RH. I'll leave it for another 12 hours and calibrate if necessary.

Eric


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## digital (Jan 6, 2010)

I personaly dont mind paying 20 - 30 bucks maby even pusing 40 for a digital hygrometer / tempratuere gague however it better be acurate if im going to shell out more then 5 bucks for a chepo walmart one.

I like the humi care one's nice display but unfortuenly the case is not going to look good in the cabient i just built. Im going to go by frys electornics / the shack on the way home from work and see if they have anything neat / good there.

Cheers -Jon


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## Cigary (Oct 19, 2007)

Like MaduroLover ( Donnie ) says, if you are using beads it's a moot point.


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## Nitrosportman (Oct 26, 2009)

allright i love dabbling in electronics and i've taken apart many, many,many of these things. The actual sensor is a ceramic plate with a copper grid printed on it. The problem is thats not all the sensor is made of, it has lithium chloride coating on them that comes off very easily like when the sensor gets too moist (90+%humidity) so then you begin losing points going negative i.e. rh is 75% hygro reads 60% there in lies the problem is that the lithium chloride coating is constantly degrading so basically all these small hygrometers are created equal in the measurement portion the difference is the potentiometer that allows you to add or subtract more capacitance to the circuit thereby allowing you to calibrate the hygrometer im still learning but thats the gist of how they work or don't work so order a 5$ one learn how much its off i personally would salt test every 6 months since the coating is constantly degrading or order a 25 dollar one and crank that sucker up to read right even though the coating is degrading testing every 6 months


sorry for the long read maybe theres some electrical engineers out there who can go into more depth


analog sensors usually use hair so thats a whole other story lol


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